Keeping the politicians on track

Intropara

Thursday 12th October 2017

6pm for 6.30pm start

Venue:
Cardiff School of Management Building, Llandaﬀ Campus

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Traditionally, the media had taken the role of both promoter of government and political parties but also that of scrutiniser and sometimes unofficial opposition. We live, however, during a period in which the government in Westminster and Cardiff Bay continue to gain more powers over our everyday lives but also one in which the media seems to become increasingly disparate. Yet with social and other forms of media becoming ever more plentiful is there still a role for the traditional media in politics?

Martin Shipton, Media Wales' Chief Reporter and one of the most experienced recorders of Welsh political life, will provide his own experience and insight in order to address the central issue of the media’s role in keeping a modern democracy functioning in a digital era. He will also enlighten the audience about what it is like to work in the heart of a major UK news organisation, following and sometimes even setting the news agenda for the Government in Wales on a daily basis. In the talk, Martin will also reflect on his most recent work on the former Welsh Secretary and House of Commons Speaker George Thomas.

Martin ShiptonMartin is Media Wales' Chief Reporter. He joined Wales on Sunday in 1994, moving on to the Western Mail eight years later. He specialises in controversial and investigative stories and has been involved in covering the National Assembly since its outset. His book on the Assembly's first decade, Poor Man's Parliament, was published in 2011. More recently Martin has produced an authorative account of the life of Viscount Tonypandy in Political Chameleon : In Search of George Thomas (2017).